16th August Beatrice Schenk de Regniers (1914 - 2000) Marchette Chute (1909 - 1994) Eileen Spinelli (1942)

This is the birthday of poets! Each of these three women has written poetry that school children should remember, recite and revisit. I wrote about Beatrice Schenk de Regniers last year here.

Marchette Chute is an American author who is well known as the author of biographies about other writers such as Shakespeare, Chaucer and Ben Jonson. While these are for older audiences, she is also a children's poet. Her verses are usually short ideal for handwriting practice, vocabulary discussion and teaching rhyme with very young children.

See examples such as these:

My Family

Part of my family is grown up tall.

Part of my family is little and small.

I'm in the middle and pleased with them all.

Showers

Squelch and squirt and squiggle,

Drizzle and drip and drain-

Such a lot of water

Comes down with the rain!

The third poet, also American, is Eileen Spinelli. She is responsible for many collections of poems published in picture book format. Her website has a section entitled 'Poem of the Month' so that each time you visit you will find something new. I love her collection of poems, Tea Party Today: Poems to Sip and Savour as I have a collection of teapots and love to make a cup of tea and read. The children at school love Sophie's Masterpiece, a story about a spider who is devoted to her webmaking craft and The Best Story, a book to help when discussing writing and what to put in a story, but she is probably best known for her story, Somebody Loves You, Mr Hatch about a community working together to make someone feel valued.

15th August RSPCA Cupcake Day

Today is Cupcake Day, a fundraiser for the RSPCA, a wonderful Australian organisation that looks after the welfare of animals. It is a good excuse to get out some cooking books, be they recipe books such as the Women's Weekly Cupcakes and Fairycakes, books that combine recipes and story or stories that involve cake making.

In my library we have two new books that combine story and recipes:

1. My Grandma's Kitchen by Louise Fulton Keats. This book is authored by the legendary Australian cook, Margaret Fulton's granddaughter. It is a beautiful book, with exquisite endpapers, 'scrapbook-like' artwork and recipes from her grandma's kitchen. It would be the perfect gift for any grandchild or grandma.

2. The Fairies Cupcake Ball a book in the Flossie Crums series by Helen Nathan. Although I am not a fan of the artwork in this series, the idea is novel and young girls do seem to like them.

And just because they are about cupcakes:

1. Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes by Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser

2. Ruby's Cupcakes by Rosemary Wells

or making cakes:

1. It's My Birthday by Helen Oxenbury

11th August Steven Kroll (1941 - 2011)

I wrote about Steven Kroll last year, but sadly he didn't get to celebrate his birthday this year. He died on 8th March, aged 69.

9th August Jose Aruego (1932)

Last August, 9th I wrote about four stalwarts of children's literature, P.L.Travers, Tove Jansson, Seymour Simon and Nick Sharratt, but I didn't know that it was also the birthday of Jose Aruego. A Filipino-born illustrator, he has been a favourite since I first shared Leo the Late Bloomer and Milton the Early Riser with children. Subsequently, I have learned that he has many more gems to his credit and that he now lives in New York, not the Philippines. Although his characters amuse and do humorous things, Aruego takes his writing and drawing for children very seriously. He says that 'he feels he is still learning his craft and getting to know his audience. Each project teaches me something new and makes me a better artist. Each book brings me closer to children.'

Aruego's most well-known books are probably those that are written by Robert Kraus and illustrated with his ex-wife Ariane Dewey, but he has also worked with Judy Sierra, Crescent Dragonwagon and Joseph Bruchac, the writer who has written about his Abenaki Native Indian heritage.

3rd August Watermelon Day

It is a pity Watermelon Day is not in summer in Australia, but nevertheless, it is a good excuse to pull out two old favourites, both of which are perfect for early childhood classes.

1. One Watermelon Seed by Celia Barker Lottridge & Karen Patkau is perfect for maths counting activities and anything to do with gardens and growing vegetables.

2. The Enormous Watermelon by Brenda Parkes, Judith Smith & Mary Davy is a twist on the enormous turnip story with paper engineering that makes the tug a war and repetitive text all the more appealing.

Ist August Sisters' Day

As one of three girls, who teaches with many girls who are also one of three girls in their family it seems important to celebrate a day such as this. There are many picture books about siblings, many of which focus on rivalry, but only a few of them are about sisters and what a good relationship they can have. The books listed here highlight many of the positive attributes having sisters can bring.

• Emma Dilemma Big Sister Poems by Kristine O'Connell George & Nancy Carpenter

• Big Sister Little Sister by LeUyen Pham

• Big Sister and Little Sister by Charlotte Zolotow & Martha Alexander

• Big Sister Little Sister by Gillian Shields & Georgie Birkett

• Seven Chinese Sisters by Kathy Tucker & Grace Lim

And of course, if you can't find these or you have older children there is always Michael Buckley's Sister's Grimm series.

1st August Michael Martchenko (1942) Sheila Hamanaka

Michael Martchenko, who was born in France, is the Canadian illustrator who has illustrated many of Robert Munsch's books. He is best known in my library for that wonderful book The Paperbag Princess, which was in fact, his first book. He has said “I try to give the kids in my illustrations spunk and make them a bit defiant; they’re always sticking out their chests and standing up for themselves," so if you laugh with his characters and /or you relate to them, maybe that is why.

Sheila Hamanaka is a Japanese American, talented author/illustrator who lives in New York. I know very little about her beyond her two books of poetry, All the Colours of the Earth and Peace Crane. The first title emphasises the multiracial nature of society and celebrates diversity. The poem is accompanied by joyful illustrations which also celebrate the diversity of the world's ethnic heritages. The second book is dedicated to the children of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all children everywhere who long for peace. It is a poem which takes its inspiration from Sadako Sasaki, the Japanese child who folded paper cranes in a bid to be free of leukemia.